UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL EXAMINATIONS

General Certificate of Education Advanced Level

MATHEMATICS 9709/07
Paper 7 Probability & Statistics 2 (S2) May/June 2007
1 hour 15 minutes
Additional Materials: Answer Booklet/Paper
*7104359165*

Graph Paper
List of Formulae (MF9)

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1 The random variable X has the distribution B(10, 0.15). Find the probability that the mean of a
random sample of 50 observations of X is greater than 1.4. [5]

2 The random variable X has the distribution N(3.2, 1.22 ). The sum of 60 independent observations
of X is denoted by S. Find P(S > 200). [5]

3 A machine has produced nails over a long period of time, where the length in millimetres was
distributed as N(22.0, 0.19). It is believed that recently the mean length has changed. To test this
belief a random sample of 8 nails is taken and the mean length is found to be 21.7 mm. Carry out a
hypothesis test at the 5% significance level to test whether the population mean has changed, assuming
that the variance remains the same. [5]

4 At a certain airport 20% of people take longer than an hour to check in. A new computer system is
installed, and it is claimed that this will reduce the time to check in. It is decided to accept the claim
if, from a random sample of 22 people, the number taking longer than an hour to check in is either 0
or 1.

(i) Calculate the significance level of the test. [3]

(ii) State the probability that a Type I error occurs. [1]

(iii) Calculate the probability that a Type II error occurs if the probability that a person takes longer
than an hour to check in is now 0.09. [3]

5 It is proposed to model the number of people per hour calling a car breakdown service between the
times 09 00 and 21 00 by a Poisson distribution.

(i) Explain why a Poisson distribution may be appropriate for this situation. [2]

People call the car breakdown service at an average rate of 20 per hour, and a Poisson distribution
may be assumed to be a suitable model.

(ii) Find the probability that exactly 8 people call in any half hour. [2]

(iii) By using a suitable approximation, find the probability that exactly 250 people call in the 12 hours
between 09 00 and 21 00. [4]

6 The daily takings, $x, for a shop were noted on 30 randomly chosen days. The takings are summarised
by Σ x = 31 500, Σ x2 = 33 141 816.

(i) Calculate unbiased estimates of the population mean and variance of the shop’s daily takings.
[3]

(ii) Calculate a 98% confidence interval for the mean daily takings. [3]

The mean daily takings for a random sample of n days is found.

(iii) Estimate the value of n for which it is approximately 95% certain that the sample mean does not
differ from the population mean by more than $6. [3]

© UCLES 2007 9709/07/M/J/07

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7 The continuous random variable X has probability density function given by

(x − 1)
3 2
1 ≤ x ≤ 2,
f(x) =
4
0 otherwise.

(i) Sketch the probability density function of X . [2]

(ii) Show that the mean, µ , of X is 1.6875. [3]

(iii) Show that the standard deviation, σ , of X is 0.2288, correct to 4 decimal places. [3]

(iv) Find P(1 ≤ X ≤ µ + σ ). [3]

© UCLES 2007 9709/07/M/J/07

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9709/07/M/J/07